idiot的词源
英文词源
- idiot
- idiot: [13] The etymological idea underlying idiot is of a ‘private inpidual’. That is what Greek idiótēs (a derivative of ídios ‘personal, private’) originally meant. It was extended to the ordinary ‘common man’, particularly a lay person without any specialized knowledge, and so came to be used rather patronizingly for an ‘ignorant person’. It is this derogatory sense that has come down to English via Latin idiōta and Old French idiot.
=> idiosyncracy - idiot (n.)
- early 14c., "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning;" also in Middle English "simple man, uneducated person, layman" (late 14c.), from Old French idiote "uneducated or ignorant person" (12c.), from Latin idiota "ordinary person, layman; outsider," in Late Latin "uneducated or ignorant person," from Greek idiotes "layman, person lacking professional skill" (opposed to writer, soldier, skilled workman), literally "private person (as opposed to one taking part in public affairs)," used patronizingly for "ignorant person," from idios "one's own" (see idiom).
Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. [Mark Twain, c. 1882]
Idiot box "television set" is from 1959; idiot light "dashboard warning signal" is attested from 1968. Idiot savant attested by 1870.
中文词源
idiot（白痴）：被统治阶级视为愚民的普通民众
在历史上，统治阶级往往以“精英”自居，将广大普通民众视为愚民，英语单词idiot就反映了这一观念。idiot源自希腊语idiotes，本意是“私人、不任公职者”，即我们中国人所谓的“平头百姓”。idiotes来自idios（one's own，个别的），英语单词idiom也来源于此，本意是“某一民族或某一地方独有的语言”。由于统治者对普通民众的歧视，idiotes一词产生了“普通人、非专业人士、无专业技能的人”的含义。到了法语后，歧视色彩进一步加强，词义变成了“未受教育的人、无知者”。在现代英语中，则直接等同于“笨蛋、白痴”。
idiot： ['ɪdɪət] n.笨蛋，傻瓜，白痴
idiom： ['ɪdɪəm] n.习语，成语，土话
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：idiot 词源，idiot 含义。
来自拉丁语idiota,无知的人，外行人，来自希腊语idios,个人的，自己的，词源同idiom.引申词义与世隔绝的人，不参与社会事务的人，最后指无知的人，笨蛋，傻瓜。
来源于希腊语idios(个人的,私人的)。
同源词：idiom
